Strains between China and its neighbors burst to the surface in two parts of the South China Sea, taking the high-stakes struggle for control over the waters to new levels of friction.

Off Vietnam, dozens of Chinese military and civilian ships clashed with the Vietnamese coast guard, with Vietnamese officials complaining its vessels were repeatedly rammed. On the same day, Philippine police apprehended Chinese fishing vessels loaded...

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Tensions Rise in South China Sea as Ships Collide

Vietnamese officials said Chinese vessels rammed into Vietnamese coast guard vessels as relations, surrounding a Chinese oil rig in the region, became fraught. Separately, the Philippines said a Chinese fishing vessel full of sea turtles had been apprehended. The WSJ's Brian Spegele reports.